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Register a new userSUPER I. Toward an unbiased study of ionized outflows in z~2 active galactic nuclei: survey overview and sample characterization
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Theoretical models of galaxy formation suggest that the presence of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) is required to regulate the growth of its host galaxy through feedback mechanisms, produced by e.g. AGN-driven outflows. Although such outflows are common both at low and high redshift, a comprehensive picture is still missing. The peak epoch of galaxy assembly (1<z<3) has been poorly explored so far, and current observations in this redshift range are mostly limited to targets with high chances to be in an outflowing phase. This paper introduces SUPER (a SINFONI Survey for Unveiling the Physics and Effect of Radiative feedback), an ongoing ESOs VLT/SINFONI Large Programme. SUPER will perform the first systematic investigation of ionized outflows in a sizeable and blindly-selected sample of 39 X-ray AGN at z~2, which reaches high spatial resolutions (~2 kpc) thanks to the adaptive optics-assisted IFU observations. The outflow morphology and star formation in the host galaxy will be mapped through the broad component of [OIII] and the narrow component of Ha emission lines. The main aim of our survey is to infer the impact of outflows on the on-going star formation and to link the outflow properties to a number of AGN and host galaxy properties. We describe here the survey characteristics and goals, as well as the selection of the target sample. Moreover, we present a full characterization of its multi-wavelength properties: we measure, via spectral energy distribution fitting of UV-to-FIR photometry, stellar masses (4x10^9-2x10^11 Msun), star formation rates (25-680 Msun yr^-1) and AGN bolometric luminosities (2x10^44-8x10^47 erg s^-1), along with obscuring column densities (<2x10^24 cm^-2) and 2-10 keV luminosities (2x10^43-6x10^45 erg s^-1) derived through X-ray spectral analysis. Finally, we classify our AGN as jetted or non-jetted according to their radio and FIR emission.
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Outflows from active galactic nuclei (AGN) are one of the fundamental mechanisms by which the central supermassive black hole interacts with its host galaxy. Detected in $ge 50%$ of nearby AGN, these outflows have been found to carry kinetic energy that is a significant fraction of AGN power, and thereby give negative feedback to their host galaxies. To understand the physical processes that regulate them, it is important to have a robust estimate of their physical and dynamical parameters. In this review we summarize our current understanding on the physics of the ionized outflows detected in absorption in the UV and X-ray wavelength bands. We discuss the most relevant observations and our current knowledge and uncertainties in the measurements of the outflow parameters. We also discuss their origin and acceleration mechanisms. The commissioning and concept studies of large telescope missions with high resolution spectrographs in UV/optical and X-rays along with rapid advancements in simulations offer great promise for discoveries in this field over the next decade.
We present here AMUSINGtextrm{++}; the largest compilation of nearby galaxies observed with the MUSE integral field spectrograph so far. This collection consists of 635 galaxies from different MUSE projects covering the redshift interval $0.0002<z<0.1$. The sample and its main properties are characterized and described in here. It includes galaxies of almost all morphological types, with a good coverage in the color-magnitude diagram, within the stellar mass range between 10$^8$ to 10$^{12}$M$_odot$, and with properties resembling those of a diameter-selected sample. The AMUSING++ sample is therefore suitable to study, with unprecendent detail, the properties of nearby galaxies at global and local scales, providing us with more than 50 million individual spectra. We use this compilation to investigate the presence of galactic outflows. We exploit the use of combined emission-line images to explore the shape of the different ionized components and the distribution along classical diagnostic diagrams to disentangle the different ionizing sources across the optical extension of each galaxy. We use the cross correlation function to estimate the level of symmetry of the emission lines as an indication of the presence of shocks and/or active galactic nuclei. We uncovered a total of 54 outflows, comprising $sim$8% of the sample. A large number of the discovered outflows correspond to those driven by active galactic nuclei ($sim$60%), suggesting some bias in the selection of our sample. No clear evidence was found that outflow host galaxies are highly star-forming, and outflows appear to be found within all galaxies around the star formation sequence.
We obtained new quantitative determinations of the nitrogen abundance and a consistent relation between nitrogen and oxygen abundances for a sample of Seyfert 2 galaxies located at redshift $z < 0.1$. We carried out this analysis using the Cloudy code to build detailed photoionization models. We were able to reproduce observed optical narrow emission line intensities for 44 sources compiled from the literature. Our results show that Seyfert 2 nuclei have nitrogen abundances ranging from $sim0.3$ to $sim 7.5$ times the solar value. We derived the relation $rm log(N/H)=1.05 (pm0.09) times [log(O/H)] -0.35 (pm 0.33$). Results for N/O vs. O/H abundance ratios derived for Seyfert 2 galaxies are in consonance with those recently derived for a sample of extragalactic disk HII regions with high metallicity.
The physics of active super massive black holes (BHs) is governed by their mass (M_BH), spin (a*) and accretion rate ($dot{M}$). This work is the first in a series of papers with the aim of testing how these parameters determine the observable attributes of active galactic nuclei (AGN). We have selected a sample in a narrow redshift range, centered on z~1.55, that covers a wide range in M_BH and $dot{M}$, and are observing them with X-shooter, covering rest wavelengths ~1200-9800 AA. The current work covers 30 such objects and focuses on the origin of the AGN spectral energy distribution (SED). After estimating M_BH and $dot{M}$ based on each observed SED, we use thin AD models and a Bayesian analysis to fit the observed SEDs in our sample. We are able to fit 22/30 of the SEDs. Out of the remaining 8 SEDs, 3 can be fit by the thin AD model by correcting the observed SED for reddening within the host galaxy and 4 can be fit by adding a disc wind to the model. In four of these 8 sources, Milky Way-type extinction, with the strong 2175AA feature, provides the best reddening correction. The distribution in spin parameter covers the entire range, from -1 to 0.998, and the most massive BHs have spin parameters greater than 0.7. This is consistent with the spin-up model of BH evolution. Altogether, these results indicate that thin ADs are indeed the main power houses of AGN, and earlier claims to the contrary are likely affected by variability and a limited observed wavelength range.
The mass-metallicity relation (MZR) of type-2 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at 1.2 < z < 4.0 is investigated by using high-z radio galaxies (HzRGs) and X-ray selected radio-quiet AGNs. We combine new rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) spectra of two radio-quiet type-2 AGNs obtained with FOCAS on the Subaru Telescope with existing rest-frame UV emission lines, i.e., CIV1549, HeII1640, and CIII]1909, of a sample of 16 HzRGs and 6 additional X-ray selected type-2 AGNs, whose host stellar masses have been estimated in literature. We divided our sample in three stellar mass bins and calculated averaged emission-line flux ratios of CIV1549/HeII1640 and CIII]1909/CIV1549. Comparing observed emission-line flux ratios with photoionization model predictions, we estimated narrow line region (NLR) metallicities for each mass bin. We found that there is a positive correlation between NLR metallicities and stellar masses of type-2 AGNs at z ~ 3. This is the first indication that AGN metallicities are related to their hosts, i.e., stellar mass. Since NLR metallicities and stellar masses follow a similar relation as the MZR in star-forming galaxies at similar redshifts, our results indicate that NLR metallicities are related to those of the host galaxies. This study highlights the importance of considering lower-mass X-ray selected AGNs in addition to radio galaxies to explore the metallicity properties of NLRs at high redshift.
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